Marketing at its very best is invisible

In May, when Apple introduced the current-generation iPad, they used this statement to open the presentation: “We believe technology is at its very best when it’s invisible. When you’re conscious only of what you’re doing, not the device you’re doing it with.”

Think about that. The company that is responsible for some of history’s most revolutionary consumer technology is saying the goal of their innovative products is to be invisible.

Marketers (and we confess, we’re guilty) too often focus our efforts on telling the world how great our products and services are. We do all we can to look and sound awesome.

But the goal of great marketing should be to make the customer smarter, stronger, happier, or whatever the customer wants when they purchase a product or join an association or sign up for a service.

When you emphasize how your product can help customers achieve something, they don’t think of it as marketing. They think of it as help. And that’s when marketing is at its very best.